


Cruel Mercy

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Conflicted Kylo Ren, M/M, Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, War Crimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:35:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29875740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Kylo’s thoughts seeing Poe on Jakku.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren
Kudos: 3
Collections: Allbingo





	Cruel Mercy

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Frighten
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

_He’s not supposed to be here._  
  
That’s Kylo’s thought even as Poe Dameron is thrown to his knees in front of him. Even seeing him kneeling before him — there’s multiple jokes that Kylo could make about this being like something out of a cheesy holo. Him being the villain that captures the dashing hero or heroine.  
  
 _Dashing._ Kylo would have observed how lovely Poe looked with his shirt showing part of his collarbone, his long, slender neck. It sent a sort of unwanted jolt of arousal through him: the defiant smolder in Poe’s eyes (and Poe was staring at him right now, eyes fierce and bright. Kylo admired him for it), the way he stood...  
  
But this wasn’t a case of villain/hero sexual tension, like they’d see in holovids. Like Poe would occasionally joke about when they watched holos together. This...this was the last thing Kylo wanted. This was serious. This wasn’t fun flirting. Kylo knew that he was being pushed on the path to hurt his best friend and would-have-been-lover, and all because Luke had to pay.  
  
Because Luke had rejected his possible redemption. Because he hated him.   
  
_If I can’t belong here, then I’ll belong somewhere else..._  
  
Kylo squatted down beside Poe. He supposed that he might as well look him in the eye, really look at him.   
  
Poe was steady. Steady in the face of the monster. Did he know? How much did General Organa tell him, if anything?  
  
“So, who talks first?” Poe was calm, all things considered. Angry, too. Kylo was already catching glimpses from his mind, his...  
  
Why would he be grieving for Ben? At least that made one grieving for Ben. Looking for him. Loving him.   
  
Poe continued. “You talk first? I talk first?”  
  
Another glimpse from Poe’s mind. Tekka, talking with Poe, handing over the map —  
  
“The old man gave it to you,” Kylo murmured. He was calm, on the outside, but on the inside, he swore it was like an airlock had opened in his stomach.   
  
No. He couldn’t interrogate Poe. He had done interrogations before, but —  
  
 _But who says you have to interrogate him?_ a part of him said. _Just delay it. Find more practical solutions._  
  
“It’s just very hard to understand you,” Poe said. “With all the — ”  
  
“Search him.”  
  
“ — apparatus.”  
  
Poe’s commentary would have been amusing, at least, if not for the fact that Kylo had to hurt him. It was hard to imagine a galaxy where patting someone down was a mercy, but he was living in that galaxy.  
  
Still that defiant look. It didn’t look smoldering now. It looked like Poe was quietly raging against what was going to happen to him.   
  
“Nothing, sir,” said the stormtrooper.   
  
“Put him onboard.” It would have been easy to rip out the information in front of everyone. All too easy. Humiliating Poe in front of everyone there, breaking him, beating him — crushing the villagers’ spirits when they saw the might of Kylo Ren. But Kylo just couldn’t do it.   
  
Kylo couldn’t go that far.   
  
He could compensate. The villagers...well, the villagers who saw his weakness certainly wouldn’t live to tell about it. And the guilty had to be punished.   
  
The villagers were guilty. But Poe was innocent. He’d always been. Even as he gave the order, Kylo was at least glad he wasn’t forcing Poe to watch. Even the idea was distasteful. Kylo had never seen the point in forcing people to watch atrocities, and he liked to think of himself as a pragmatic man who did what needed to be done.   
  
He could feel a stab of pity, at least, knowing that Poe wanted to save them and couldn’t. In a way, without realizing, it was a form of cruel mercy to Poe: not forcing him to watch, but knowing that he could have saved them and wasn’t able to.  
  
In a way, he had still punished Poe — and it didn’t feel satisfying at all.


End file.
